Chap. 29

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Sarah Campbell

Nobody was talking about the relapse. Nobody was talking about the hospital visit. Nobody was talking about anything.

Ryan was helping Lizzie to set up for a puppet show, while Jace contently slept in Joel's arms.

And Caden had gone off to visit another rehab facility, unbeknownst to Joel.

"So what's this show about exactly?" I asked.

Ryan shrugged in response.

"Whatever we want it to be!" Lizzie exclaimed.

I couldn't help but smile, her excitement contagious.

"We need Barbies," she informed Ryan, before running upstairs toward her room.

"Of course we do," Ryan said, with a laugh.

Silence stretched across the room, as it did when Lizzie left the room.

Nobody ever said anything.

"How's the head?" Ryan asked Joel. "Need some painkillers?"

"I'm fine."

He's far from fine. And we all knew it.

But still, nobody said anything.

Lizzie came rushing back downstairs, her arms full of half-dressed Barbies. "Found some."

"Some?" Ryan asked. "How many Barbies do you have, kid?"

"Lots, daddy. They have friends."

Even I had to laugh at that.

"My bad," he said.

I reached out and picked up a fully-naked Barbie. "What happened to this one?"

"She's naked," Lizzie stated.

Joel smiled at that. "Duh, Sarah."

"Yeah, duh," Lizzie added.

Ryan shot Joel a glare. "Great. Mommy will be thrilled with that one."

"Oops."

The puppet show was the disaster that we were all anticipating, which made it just that much more entertaining.

I helped them clean up after, and Ryan put Lizzie down to nap inside the room with Meredith.

"Want some watermelon?" Ryan asked me.

I nodded, and he brought a bowl out into the living room.

"Joel?" Ryan asked.

He shook his head in response. "I'm fine."

And nobody said anything.

In that moment, something inside of me snapped.

I could feel my breath catching my threat, my chest tightening as I tried to reign back in my emotions. But it was of no use. I couldn't just continue to remain silent.

Somebody had to say something.

"You're not fine."

Both Joel and Ryan's eyes snapped towards me.

"I can't do this anymore," I said, my eyes locking with Joel's. "I've been trying so hard, but this is breaking me apart, Joel. I can't do this."

Ryan crossed the living room, taking Jace from Joel's arms. "If we're going to this now, I'd like to spare my baby."

"I don't want to do this now," Joel said, his voice quiet. "I didn't ask to do this now."

Ryan disappeared into the back room once again, putting Jace down in his bassinet to sleep.

"You are not fine," I repeated. "And you have to talk about this."

"I don't have to talk about anything."

Wrong choice of words on my part. "I'm begging you to talk about this, Joel. Please."

I could see the confliction written across his face.

Ryan quietly took a seat in the armchair across the room, his face stoic.

"I didn't realize how much this would affect you guys," Joel said. "I'm sorry."

I could feel my throat closing, the tears pressing against the backs of my eyes.

"How about how much it would affect you?" I asked.

He opened his mouth, snapping it shut again before letting out a sigh. "I don't have the answers, Sarah. I don't have what you're looking for. I'm sorry."

I didn't want his apology.

I practically threw myself toward him, wrapping my arms around him. "I love you, Joel."

He cleared his throat, and I could tell that he was crying. "I'm sorry."

"Please tell me what I can do to help. Please let me help."

He didn't say anything, which only made me cry harder.

My brother was going to die. First my dad, now my brother.

And there was nothing I could do for either one of them.

~*~

I'd never been behind on schoolwork before. But with Finals just around the corner, and missing a week of classes, I was backed up.

And I was overwhelmed.

Aubrey had taken it upon herself to make me a schedule to help catch me back up and block out times to study.

She was using a wall calendar and color-coordinated pens. I think it was more fun for her than anything, and I didn't mind having someone else do the work.

I needed the break.

"When do you want to contact the QB," she said, turning around to face me. "You know, the one you're supposed to be helping to prep for Finals."

Shit.

In the midst of this shit storm, I'd completely forgotten about Adam. About the kiss. About the alcohol. About everything.

He's probably been trying to reach out to me. And I've been neglecting my duties to him.

I've been failing everyone.

"They won their game last night," Aubrey said. "So they're going to one of the big bowls, you know the one that gets primetime TV and a lot of sponsors and shit."

He was probably ecstatic. And I hadn't even known.

I grabbed my phone, flipping through my texts.

"He's at the airport," I said, glancing up toward Aubrey.

"For what?"

I shook my head in response. "I don't know?"

She just shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably a team thing."

His texts didn't read like it was a team thing.

Should I reach out to Terrence? Was it something serious?

As if I didn't have enough on my mind, now I had Adam's vague texts perplexing me.

I was too emotionally drained to deal with all of this.

"Let's just order in some food," I said. "And we can have a hardcore study session."

Aubrey sat down on the edge of my bed with a sigh. "This sucks, buttercup."

I nodded in agreement. "I really, really hate this."

She wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling my head toward hers. "I love you. And if there was anything I could do to make this better, you know I would, right?"

I nodded.

"In a fucking heartbeat."

"I know, Aubs."

"I hate this."

Me too.

She let out a sigh before standing up. "I'll order the food, you pull up whatever class you want to tackle first. And we'll do this together."

~*~

Somehow I had to focus on studying. With Finals just around the corner, my work was piling up.

But my mind was far from schoolwork.

"Apply for an extension," Aubrey said. "You'd qualify for one."

I didn't want an extension. I just wanted this semester to be over, so I could go home and be with my dad.

So I could spend time with my family before they start dying off.

Aubrey ran her fingers through my hair as I began to sob. Again.

I'm just emotionally exhausted.

"You need to drink some water," Aubrey said. "You've been crying off-and-on for two days."

I didn't even want to get out of bed to do that simple task.

A knock came on the dorm room door as Aubrey handed me a bottle of water from the mini-refrigerator.

"Tell them to go away," I said, my voice hoarse.

"I called in reinforcements," Aubrey said, with an apologetic grimace.

"Who?"

She opened the door to reveal Joel, of all people.

"Grandpa Joel."

"Don't call me that," Joel said, in a flat voice.

Joel came into the room and grabbed some tissues from my nightstand. "Come on, Sarah. We've got Finals to study for, shit to do."

"Go away, Joel."

"I am."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "That's not why I called you here-"

"To rehab."

I felt my eyes widen. "You're what?"

"I'm taking my Finals early," Joel said. "And then I'm going to a rehab facility."

I pushed myself upright, using the tissues to wipe my tear-soaked cheeks. "What changed your mind?"

"I'd also like to know the answer to that question," Aubrey added. "Because based on our last text conversation, you had no intentions of doing so."

He shrugged in response. "I'm tired of this too. It's exhausting, both physically and mentally. My body hurts. And..." He cleared his throat. "And I don't want to die. Obviously."

"I don't want you to die either," I said, my voice small. "I love you."

He offered me a slight smile. "I love you, too. And I'm really going to work at this, okay?"

Joel reached out, wrapping an arm around Aubrey before bending down to kiss me on the top of my head. "I'm going to try to beat this one last time."

Is this what you guys were expecting? What do you think changed Joel's mind? And where tf do you think Adam is?

SO MANY QUESTIONS THIS CHAPTER.

If you want to know Joel's side of the story, you can read all about it in The Art Of Series. His story is called The Art Of Losing Control, and we're about to find out what ultimately swayed his decision in this process.

Just got off work & going to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. Might be doing some book research ;)

Teaser: Where in the world is Adam Watson?

Updates will be on hold until further notice.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net